Wednesday, December 13, 2006

‘Tis is the season when everyone is giving. People are embracing the holiday spirit, remembering others and supporting charities more than at any other time. You can just feel it in the air. It is something I wish I could bottle up and sprinkle around town all year long.

As we remember the "gift of giving" for the holidays, the mommy blogosphere is uniting in support of a very deserving cause. And not just in any old way either. In a pretty spectacular (and fun) way. Lead by Motherhood Uncensored and MotherGooseMouse, a number of bloggers have come together in record numbers (including all the writers here at MommyBlogsToronto). We've rallied our holiday giving spirit behind an important cause in honour of a much loved woman and her beautiful nephew, Tanner.

Her Bad Mother is one of the creative minds behind the inception of MommyBlogsToronto and is a great champion of the mommy blogosphere. To know her is to know that she has a big heart, fascinating mind and a fierce love for her daughter. And that love it is strong and it extends to so many others in her life. One of the most important people is her nephew who lives with Muscular Dystrophy. Through is aunt’s poignantwords, those who read her blog have grown to love and know him as well.

It is with all that overflowing of love and hope, especially when it is easy to get swept up with everything else on our holiday to do list, that we remember to take the time to do something to make a difference.

Starting today you are invited to join mommy (and daddy) bloggers from Toronto (and all over) to participate in Her Bad Auction, a raffle-style auction in support of Muscular Dystrophy research.

You can get involved by bidding with raffle tickets on a list of amazing items just in time for the holiday gifting season. You'll find baby stuff, mommy stuff, hand-made stuff, blogger stuff ... some very, verrrrry good stuff! There are many fabulous gift ideas and, best of all, 100% of the proceeds go directly to support the work of MD Canada. All the details can be found here and the more tickets you buy, the more chances you have to win your favourite items.

You can also help out by spreading the word. Tell everyone you know that all they need to do to participate in our bloggy fundraiser is have an easy-to-set-up paypal account (and a penchant for raffles).

Most of all, you can participate in a meaningful way by getting your child(ren) involved to help make Tanner's holiday season extra special. Fill it with letters and pictures and cards from kids letting him know how cool he his. They can tell him about their life and world. It is a wonderful way for our children to be part of making someone's holiday's great. They are already writing to Santa ... and this is even better. You can send your letters here:"Letters for Tanner"1518 Queen Street West,Toronto, ON, M6R 1A4

So stop reading this. Go and bid on lots of tickets for the raffle. Write some letters and spread the word. 'Tis the season!

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When she is not raising her 5-year-old-boy-genius, Sandra is an ex-advertising exec who spends her days working with a grassroots feminist charity. She is also an aspiring writer, chocolate-loving vegetarian … and a blogger.